It’s Independence Day, and the annual fireworks along Lake Champlain are set to begin.<br><br>Adam Rankin gets a telephone call from his former boyfriend, Dave Peterson, who’s back in town for the festivities. It’s been a year since they separated and parted ways. Dave has moved from their small upstate New York town to Albany, where he works as a paralegal. Adam stayed behind, working as a chef in a Greek restaurant and feeding the homeless on weekends at a local shelter.<br><br>The two men reconnect over the holiday and sparks fly. Can they rekindle the flames between them, or will their romance burn out? Will this be the start of a new beginning?

Red, White, and a New Beginning

I removed his wet clothes, a habit I was familiar with when we were together, in the beginning stages of foreplay, and helped him into the main bedroom, tucking him between the sheets and goose-down feathered comforter.


I sat on the edge of my king-sized bed, staring at the outline of Dave’s oval face, and smiled, watching over him like a concerned caretaker. He started snoring, a raging loud snort, dead to the world, guiltless.


I felt the influx of tears pricking my eyes and streaming down my face. I wiped them away, the past skulking through the rear door of my thoughts.


The light on the side table cast a calming white glow around the room, creating a peaceful atmosphere. The pattering of rain on the roof and glass lulled me back into a drowsy state. I flung my legs off the floor and curled up next to Dave, his warm, bitter breath blowing on the back of my neck.


Chapter 8